Thanksgiving Trial Run-Delicious and inexpensive
We love our delicious brined turkey so much that we make it year round. So, I jokingly called it our trial run, because Thanksgiving is only 10 days away, but in reality, we just LOVE this turkey. Not only is it delicious, but this time of year is is super affordable. With turkey costing about$1 a pound, you can calculate about 60% yield when cooking a turkey with bones, which makes your turkey meat about .60 per pound! Wowza, add in a soup meal from the bones and you are looking at one of the most affordable meats around.
For more year-round turkey meal plans, take a look at my Turkey Year Round Cookbook Downloadable from Etsy. Also on Etsy, you can find my Thanksgiving Cookbook with over 30 delicious recipes for a memorable and fun gathering.
The instructions on how to brine a cook a turkey can be found at my post Brined Turkey
Brine
Ingredients
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 2 cups cider vinegar
- 1 lb. ice
- heat salt through vinegar stirring until disolved. remove from heat and add 1 pound ice. add brine to plastic bag large enough to hold both meat and brine solution. brine overnight in refrigerator. rinse, pat dry and use or freeze.
- i back off to ½ -¾ cups of kosher salt.
Mama Douglas’s Stuffing is featured in this post.
Mama Douglas stuffing
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 3/4 cups eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 8 cups bread
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup butter
Instructions
- Saute onions in butter until translucent. Add to bread crumbs. Whisk eggs and milk until combined. Add to bread crumbs and stir. Mixture will look soupy. Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
And finally, Green Beans Almandine.
Green Beans Almondine
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter divided use
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/3 cup shallots minced
- 1 pound green beans use the smaller French haricot vert green beans if you can find them
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add the almonds to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the almonds from the pan; wipe the pan clean with a paper towel.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan. Add the shallots and cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender.
- Add the green beans and 1 tablespoon of water to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until green beans are tender, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in the lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the reserved almonds over the green beans, along with the parsley. Serve immediately.